Every little girl gets excited when it comes to their birthday, but when you tell them they can have a party it becomes the most exciting time for them .

They throw all these ideas at you about their wishes for their perfect day and you start organising and preparing to make it extra special for them.For my girls it is always an easy choice for colour theme, they all love pink and this year was no exception.

In the past my daughters have done many different things for their special day including the shopping sprees, play areas , bowling , cinemas, trips away and of course the house party or hired halls.Usually the girls will choose a theme like princess or hello kitty but now turning 8 and 10 year old they seem to be outgrowing the younger girls themes and getting stuck for new ones .

I can not remember having the fun which they had as I spent the days rushing around sorting the decorations, food and basically trying to entertain everyone and of course the dreaded task of tidying the mess up afterwards.

This year I wanted to be with them and enjoy their day , not miss it in all the chaos and I was lucky enough to be chosen to win a Spa Pamper Party with Grumpy but Gorgeous last year . I was allowed to use it whenever I wanted and of course chose a date for the girls between both their birthdays being only two weeks apart .

As I started to research the company , I came across their website where I was instantly welcomed with happy children shouting out the brands name , looking through the site , It made me more excited and most definitely something I had not seen before.

Grumpy but Gorgeous are a company that work in and around London and throw the biggest and best girls pamper parties for all ages.

For a starters, being a beauty blogger, you of course know this is something not only the children wish to have but me included. Who doesn't want to be pampered right?

I was told not to worry about anything at all , just prepare the food and sit back with a glass of wine and let them do everything for me.

Although I must admit I seemed to be getting more excited than the the girls themselves beforehand, I spent two weeks getting prepared and looking for pink table decorations, balloons and banners .Me and my husband got the party food and even treat them to a chocolate fountain for the big day . Kate rang me the day before , left her mobile number and gave me the details of her arrival to ensure everything was ready for her coming and all was still ok for the day.

The morning of the party , I spent it cleaning up, hanging balloons from the ceiling and preparing the food, nervous and exuberated . Not knowing what to expect because we had never had anything like this before we presumed that they would just turn up with a bag of nail polish and and face masks and that was it.

We could have not been further from the truth . Grumpy but gorgeous travelled 5 and a half hours to get to us and arrived an hour before the party was due to start.I was in complete shock that they could not only give me the free party but also travel a full day to get her , think about it, that is 11 hours travelling ,and to me that is dedication to their work.

Welcoming the two ladies Kate and Aimee as they pulled up in their car, the children ran downstairs and the true girly giggles and beaming smiles began.

Instantly they began to prepare and started to pull out their bags and cases. Yes it was not just a bag of polish and cream , they in fact brought rolls of fabric, pink fluffy fleeces and fluffy blue boa's along with table covers and floor covering. Then they covered the sofas and floors, tables and brought out the pamper goodies including pink heart dressing gowns which were for each of the children to wear during their party.

The owner of Grumpy but Gorgeous , Kate, asked to see the room we were holding the party in and instantly began to make it look like a pink haven .It took them only half an hour to transform my sitting room into a Pink spa tranquil setting.

The girls sitting down ready for their pampering session to start. Note Drew furthest on the right holding the fabulous lolly shaped sponge which the ladies gave to her and she loved .

I think the first thing other than the decor which we noticed were the fantastic foot spas. They had pink and purple lights in them and looked fabulous.

They placed a lovely little heart shaped bath bomb on each chair for each of the girls and before having the girls enter the room placed their dressing gowns on them and tied there hairs up then asked them to sit down.

Ensuring all attendees had brought back their invites which the company had sent to me had the consent and allergy concerns signed for , the party then began.

The ladies were lovely and so cheerful. You could tell they really did enjoy their work and you could see it clearly.They spent an hour with all the girls , each as individuals and as a group pampering them and making them feel special starting with the girls enjoying a face mask with the cucumber and the relaxing soak foot spa.

I think the pictures speak for themselves, don't you?

The girls were having so much fun they loved getting all giggly and applying the face masks to each other and to be honest I had a full 10 minutes where I thought a couple of them had fallen asleep lol.

When the girls had been fully relaxed they woke up to find their foot spas all overflowing with bubbles. They thought it was so fun and laughed a lot.The ladies said the one who had the most bubbles had the stinkiest feet and the girls thought it was funny.

The girls then had there massages , head and face , feet and hands.

Watch out messy hair time.

So once the girls had their first half of their party there was a half hour break for them to go and have a toilet break then enjoy the food. As promised I tried to get creative and I think I had done quite a good job may I say so myself . Well Ii tried.We made sandwiches using cookie cutters , watermelon looked lovely, little individual trifles and other snacks but I loved the cupcake stand which looked fabulous.

Heart shaped sandwiches - Ham and tomato sauce and the butterfly sandwiches are filled with chocolate and cream cheese spread. There was not one sandwich left on this plate.

The drinks fountain which the Grumpy but Gorgeous brought along with them went down a treat.

While the children enjoyed something to eat , the ladies prepared for the next edition of the party which was the nail painting part.

All the girls enjoyed a drink from the fountain and then chose their polish, glitter and design each for toes and fingers then gave us a little pose .They were very happy with the results.

Before we knew it , the party had been going for 2 and a half hours and it was time for it to end.I seemed to feel relaxed and I got to enjoy the party with my girls , watching them laugh and have fun at their party this time.

Kate and Aimee took the girls into the hallway where they prepared the girls for their last event of the day.The girls finished their day by doing a Grumpy but Gorgeous catwalk , I laughed so much and could see they were having a fabulous time, it is always nice to know that your daughters birthday party has been a success and it showed.

Kate and Aimee said thankyou to the girls and we said a huge thankyou back then the girls were all given a little surprise of their own to end the day with.

A goody bag with a body puff, cute nail files and lollipop lipgloss , they were over joyed with them and we were sad to see them go.

We had a chat with the ladies and thanked them for making our day extra special and the best ever and waved them goodbuy.

The girls had a little sing song on the karaoke and then rang outside to play in the garden while waiting for their mums to come pick them up and every single one of them said they had a fabulous day.

With the house already cleaned and nothing for me to but clear the table of left over empty food plates , I relaxed and me and John said we will most definitely be having another next year.

Conclusion of Grumpy but Gorgeous-

For me , I thought this was by far the best party my girls have had yet.

The ladies made them have so much fun and I had nothing to do other than the food . They were so friendly and I believe they genuinely love their job and doing the parties for the girls.

Taking 11 hours on a round trip all the way to do a 2 and a half hour party for us is dedication in my eyes. They made so much effort into making it the perfect special girls party and we thank them so much for making their day wonderful.

Even towards the end of the day the ladies were re doing nails when the girls had smudged the polish , sometimes three times over and left no mess or concerns for me at all.

The fact that these ladies showed that they enjoyed the party and spent time with each child made it worth it.I appreciate that some parents have time to prepare for parties themselves but I for one have none and loved that it was stress free . I actually got to enjoy the experience with the girls and could take pictures to capture the memories I truly treasure.Not once were there any problems or worries , we loved it all.

I would totally recommend them and would love to have them here again.Thankyou Ladies .

Rumours-

At the start of my experience , I was receiving inboxes on facebook regarding some rumours regarding the company. It seemed that there were a very small handfull of people who had had some so called bad experiences with the bookings of parties and Grumpy But Gorgeous not turning up then refusing to pay them their deposits and so on.

On researching this rumour I came across a forum and a facebook page which had been set up by these people and I was a little shocked to say the least.

I will be honest and tell you that I was scared thinking that no one would turn up and up untill Kate and Aimee turned up an hour before the party itself ,I was still then still worried because of those rumours.

This is not what I wanted from the experience. I felt scared and unsure whether the company were going to turn up which worried me thinking I would be left with nothing but food for a party and those very small minded few seemed to have enjoyed using the company and its employers to make them and myself along with previous others who have booked a party feel threatened and scared to do so.

I looked into the group and the forum a lot before hand and read the comments of what seemed to be very angry people , it has been a nearly a year since I booked the party and following the forum I have read some very nasty and vindictive comments whic lead to know proof or fact of any of the rumours which had started the while thing.

I did approach the company regarding this last year when I noticed them and they assured me that I should not worry and all would be perfectly fine.

I do have one friend who I spoke to regarding this as she also had a party booked which was also won I believe or it was for a blog for her to do for them and she did not get her party as there was confusion into the matter of whether she was getting a party or a party box which is also offered with Grumpy But Gorgeous but for me they did turn up and they did do everything they had promised.

Both ladies seem to be very upset regarding the fact that people are trying to ruin their business which they clearly love and enjoy and rightly so, they have closed their Twitter accounts down and are taking extreme measures to ensure those who are booking under false pretences to try and trap them (because they are ), they have also had people hold parties then after reading the forum discussion go to them 3-4 months later to ask for a refund thinking that is acceptable. This certainly is not and it is clearly making an impact on the company due to these bullies but I for one think they are doing something wonderful .

I asked for the ladies to join in on a picture with all of the girls (the girls had made a new two friends and thought they were great) but they politely refused due to thinking that someone would recognise them and in fact they felt scared worrying that someone would want to harm them. I felt terrible for them I really did. They had done a fabulous job and we are so grateful .

So I would just like to say, you can not believe everything you read and if you have a worry or query then ask them yourselves.

I am sure they would answer any questions , they were always helpful and got back to me quickly .

We certainly had a fantastic time, they turned up, they entertained the girls, made them smile and enjoyed their special day and not one of the girls had a bad word to say about them , they loved it.

That looks a fab party for your girlies. I can see they enjoyed them selves lots. You did a great job on the food as well. I am gald it all came together for you.

Reply

Sarah Fawcett

11/4/2015 06:06:01 am

So glad you had a lovely experience, it's such a shame that this standard is not consistent. Shortly after your party, Grumpy But Gorgoeus featured on the BBCs Rip Off Britain. I have also had a personally terrible experience leading me to seek a County Court Judgement agianst the company which they are refusing to acknowledge so I have had to enter for an enforcement warrant, I would sincerely warn agianst this company. In particular be warned that the terms and conditions on their website differ from the ones they Issue AFTER you pay a deposit.

What a fantastic pamper party experience your girls (and all their friends too!) had. It's a shame you felt so nervous even as close to an hour before them turning up to host the party for you, but I'm glad to read it was all a-ok! x

Reply

Agata Pokutycka

16/6/2014 09:26:11 am

Oh wow! What a fantastic party!
Love those pink robes!
All girls look so happy...

Thanks so much for your kind words. We had a great day and the travelling is something we are used to! We hope to see you again next year and thank you for giving us the opportunity to show you how much we love what we do and that most of all, we are reliable.

Hi, I wondered whether you have seen the programme aired today on this company??? BBC1 Rip off Britain!!

Reply

Laura

29/9/2014 12:38:27 pm

I'm glad that your daughter and her friends had a wonderful party however you are by the looks of it a blogger with a large following, hence why your party was personally attended by both Katie brown and Aimee and made to be the amazing day that it's advertised as. I booked a party with grumpy but gorgeous in august of last year for my daughters 12th birthday, the party we received couldn't have been further away from the fabulous photographs you have uploaded. To all, please be aware that the likelihood of your child receiving a party of this standard is highly unlikely. I would be interested in knowing how much this party costs as my daughters £350 party bared no resemblance to this one. Aimee and another girl 'hosted' ours, katie brown was nowhere in sight